Big Cypress Seminole Reservation Arts and Music Festival

Festival season is in full swing for tribal and non-tribal people alike as the Third Annual Indigenous Arts and Music Festival at Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation is scheduled February 6 through 8. 

The event will showcase and share indigenous music and culture.  

Themed “Honoring Our Elders,” the event will take place at the Junior Cypress Entertainment Complex from 9:30 AM through 6:00 PM all three days. 

“You’re going to get authentic native artists that span across several different genres, natives from different parts of the country bringing their own sauce to the event with demonstrations of arts and crafts,” said Cheyenne Kippenberger, a citizen of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. 

Kippenberger owns C.K. Tribal Consulting, which specializes in cultural and historical competency, helping people to understand and enhance Native American people, she said. 

"This is a really unique event,” said Kippenberger. "It’s a very rural Florida feel. It’s for community and by community to experience that authenticity,” she added. 

Country music star John Anderson brought the Seminoles to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame with his song Seminole Wind.  

Anderson famously sings, “Way down south in the Everglades, where the black water rolls and the saw grass waves, the eagles fly and the otters play in the land of the Seminole.” 

“So blow, blow Seminole wind. Blow like you're never gonna blow again,” he continues.  

Anderson plays at 6:00 PM on Thursday, February 6. 

IAMF includes Indigenous speakers and performers from across the U.S. and Canada. 

Members of numerous distinctive tribes will perform at the Festival. Among the musicians and dancers are acclaimed members of the Seminole Tribe, including Paul Buster, Andy Buster, and the Osceola Brothers Band, among others.  

“Cameron, Tyson, and Sheldon Osceola, who grew up on the Hollywood Seminole Reservation, have been making music together for most of their lives,” wrote Deanna Butler of Florida  Seminole Tourism in her description of the event.  

Sage Cornelius will play his distinctive rage metal rock violin style. Other performers include The Bearhead Sisters, Polynesian Proud, The Bird Family Performers, Cecil Grey, Pura Fe, and Creek Hymn Singers, each from distinctive indigenous tribes. 

The band Indigenous will headline on Friday. The musicians are members of the Nakota Nation and grew up on South Dakota's Yankton Indian Reservation, where their father, Greg Zephier, became a spokesperson for Native American rights. 

Panel Discussion on Saturday will feature veteran Native actors Graham Greene and Tantoo Cardinal. 

In addition to speakers and live music, the Festival includes native food, wildlife demonstrations, and arts and crafts. 

"I keep bringing up the word ‘authentic’ because the Seminole and Miccosukee Tribes, as the only tribes in Florida, we’re relatively small compared to other tribes across the U.S.,” said Kippenberger. 
“We are so much more than the casino people with such rich thriving culture,” she said, inviting indigenous and non-indigenous people alike to enjoy and benefit from the cultural event. 

Admission to the Big Cypress Indigenous Arts and Music Festival is free. More details and the full event schedule are available on the website indigenousamf.com. The event is held at 500 Rodeo Drive, Clewiston, follow signs to event parking near the rodeo grounds.